Rapid cooking device

ABSTRACT

A rapid cooking method is provided in which food pieces are contacted with an air stream at a velocity of at least 1,000 linear feet per minute. 
     Rapid cooking equipment is disclosed which creates high velocity air current.

This is a continuation of application of Ser. No. 902,531 filed Jun. 22,1992 and now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation of applicationof Ser. No. 325,157 filed Mar. 17, 1989 and now abandoned, which in turnis a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 014,997,filed Feb. 17, 1987, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,509.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods for cooking of food productsand more particularly to methods for cooking using a high velocity aircurrent to rapidly cook the food product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of cooking methods and cooking devices have been providedin the past. Deep fat frying and broiling are illustrative of methods ofcooking that have been around for years. The conventional oven is alsoillustrative of cooking devices that have been in use for many years. Infact, simple ovens in various forms have been in use for centuries inhomes, commercial bakeries, institutional kitchens and restaurants.

Conventional ovens have been provided in a variety of models and sizes,for example, a permanent, built-in style, mounted in cabinetry, togetherwith or independent of a stove top unit. Conventional ovens have alsobeen provided of a portable design. While the conventional oven remainsa basic essential cooking unit in the home as well as restaurants or thelike, conventional ovens do have their shortcomings. Conventional ovens,for example, tend to cook slowly and thus consume a good deal of theuser's time.

Attempts have been made to overcome this problem; for example, microwaveovens have become popular. While microwave ovens cook rapidly, they toohave their shortcomings. For example, it is difficult to brown food in amicrowave oven.

Other attempts at solving the slowness of conventional ovens have beento include a circulating fan to move the air in the oven. While suchcirculating fans have provided more rapid cooking, the time required isstill very substantial. Such existing ovens perform their tasks in asimilar way. The majority of such cooking devices consist of arectangular oven, usually equipped with a plurality of racks, much likethat found in conventional in-home ovens. Often at the rear of the ovenis a squirrel-cage type blower which draws the air through a hole in theinterior rear wall and blows the air out to the sides where it isdirected to perforations in the two interior side walls. Thispressurized air is then forced through the perforations toward the rearcenter of the oven enclosure, where it is drawn into the blower intakehole and recirculated, thereby completing a closed loop. An ovenproduced by Rair follows the above pattern with the exception ofcirculating the air through a cylindrical chamber with its axispositioned horizontally.

Air velocities within the cooking chamber of such ovens are low incomparison to the present method and vary widely within each oven. Thevelocities are generally the highest immediately in front of the blowerintake. A typical average air speed found in a commercial restaurantconvection oven is approximately 350 feet per minute.

A conventional square or rectangular chamber, especially with sharpcorners, offers great resistance to the smooth flow of air due to theabrupt change in direction of the air stream at each corner encountered.This makes it difficult for conventional ovens to achieve the airvelocities of the present invention. Turbulence is created inconventional chambers as well as stagnant areas of relatively cool airin the corners and thus the air velocities are difficult to obtainwithout displacement of the food pieces. Earlier forced air designs makeuse of large blowers and powerful motors to pressurize the air and forceit as evenly as possible through the cooking chamber, usually throughperforations or louvers in the interior walls of the cooking chamber.Such prior devices have not been effective to produce the results foundin the present invention since they do not achieve the necessaryvelocities. Also such high power devices are not practical whendesigning a lightweight portable appliance, due to the excessive noise,added cost and space requirements of such a design.

Prior ovens with fans have not been able to get their fans to achievehigh rates of speed for the two following reasons. Ovens with fans oftendisrupt or restrict their air flow in one or both of two ways:

The prior ovens disrupt or restrict the fans air output by forcing theair through a grease filter. The function of that filter is typically toprotect the fan from grease. The present fan is self-cleaning and doesnot have the problem of having to restrict air velocities by forcing theair through a grease filter.

Prior ovens also disrupt or restrict the air flow by placing the heatingelements so that the air coming off the fan blades passes over andaround the heating element. This is done to heat the air, but it alsoseverely disrupts the air flow making it more difficult to achievehigher, free-flow air velocities. The present invention disposes theheating element behind the fan in a position where it does not disruptor restrict the air flow, thus achieving higher rates of air flow withbetter results.

Prior ovens with fans do not extend the fans down into the cookingchamber. The fans are generally recessed into the wall of the cookingchamber or into the roof of that cooking chamber. The fans are thereforecovered by or partially blocked by either the wall, a filter, of someother enclosure or housing.

The fan blade in the present invention projects into the cooking chamberwhere it drives the air free and essentially unrestricted by anyenclosure. It is the position of the present fan within or relative tothe chamber that contributes to its ability to achieve the high airvelocities and the attendant results.

Various means of heating the air are used, usually employing natural gasheat exchangers located in the sides of the oven or electrical tubularheating elements located in the lower portion of the oven.

A rapid cooking device has been the deep fat fryer. Such fryers aretypically used to prepare French fries, breaded shrimp, fried chickenand the like. Deep fat fryers will typically cook food pieces in fromone to five minutes. Deep fat fryers brown the product and developdesirable flavor characteristics. Deep fat fryers, however, also haveinherent disadvantages. One such inherent disadvantage is the fact thatthe cooked food product has very high levels of fats, thus increasingthe caloric content as well as the potential adverse effects ofcholesterol on the consumer's circulatory system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present cooking method provides very rapid and very high rate ofheat exchange cooking using high velocity air streams. The presentinvention achieves results very similar to baking, frying, broiling,rotisserie cooking, toasting, boiling, microwave, range cooking,however, with improved results. One may simultaneously bake a cinnamonroll, fry bacon and boil an egg. Any of a wide variety of foods may becooked using the present method, for example, meats, eggs, various formsof potatoes (e.g., baked, american fries), breads (e.g., dough piecesfor bread loaves, sweet rolls and the like). The air stream may beprovided in any type of apparatus capable of producing the velocitieswhile avoiding displacement of the food pieces. The necessary conditionsof temperature and air velocities may be provided in a cylindricalcooking chamber of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,509. Suchcooking device desirably has a patterned air current, e.g. cycloneshape, although a somewhat turbulent air flow is acceptable so long asthe air velocities can be maintained at the necessary level. The airfrier shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,509 has a cylindrical cooking chamberwith gentle radii in the upper and lower corners to facilitate smoothair flow around these corners. The round shape of the chamber unlikeconventional air stream ovens, works in cooperation with an elevated airstream velocity, rather than against the air flow.

The present invention provides a solution to the various problemsconfronted by previous methods of cooking including methods usingconvection ovens as well as the deep fat fryers. The present inventionprovides very rapid cooking, develops browning and flavoring of thecooked product, and will provide products similar to those typicallydeep fat fried but with controlled oil content.

The present invention in its preferred form may be carried out using anair frier with a lower or bottom unit which has a circularcircumferential wall and a lower integral wall. The lower unit has arack on which the food pieces may be placed for cooking purposes. A holddown rack may overlie the food pieces during cooking thereby permittinghigher air velocities. The unit may include a top portion which likewisehas a circumferential wall and an integral top wall. An opening may bedefined in the central portion of the top wall into which a poweredheater may be removably mounted. A small vent may draw moisture ladenair from said top portion to increase the cooking rate.

The powered heating unit heats an air stream and moves the air streamwithin the chamber defined by the lower unit and the upper unit at veryhigh velocities, for example, in excess of 1,000 linear feet per minute,e.g. typically 1200 to 2500 linear feet per minute. The apparatus mayinclude mechanism to adjust the air velocity and temperature to achieveoptimum cooking conditions. The air stream flowing past the heater coilmaintains the heater coil at a temperature such that the coil remainsblack. Desirably, the air flow in the cooking chamber is in a cycloneconfiguration. The direction of air flow may be periodically reversed tofacilitate uniform cooking.

The two portions of the unit may form a clam-shell structure and may behingedly connected so that the top may be pivoted upwardly to provideaccess to the rack. The hinged connection may provide a positiveelectrical disconnect to prevent operation of the blower or heatingelement when the top is pivoted upwardly.

The cooking device enclosure may be molded in high temperature plasticas two pieces, a top and a bottom. Construction of the device of plasticpermits temperatures in the chamber 400° F. and higher while avoidingdanger of burning the user should the user touch the plastic, e.g. thetemperature drop across the plastic wall is substantial where as thiswould not be the case with glass or metal. A single round wire orplastic rack may be supported in the bottom half. The height of the rackmay be adjusted up or down to meet the needs of different sized foodpieces. In order to accommodate taller items such as loaves of bread orturkeys, the user may add one or more extension rings between the upperand lower halves of the cooking enclosure. Extension segments may alsobe added to the hinge support assembly to match the extended height ofthe cooking enclosure.

By removing the rack and detaching the blower and hinge assembly, thecooking enclosure may be used as an oven-proof casserole dish or anattractive serving dish. With molded-in feet, the enclosure may beplaced on the dining table without the need of a trivet.

The use of a plastic or polymeric cooking enclosure provides a lowthermal mass for rapid heat up and cool down, low thermal conductivityto slow heat loss and reduced risk of burns to the user, and lightweightfor low cost shipping, easy portability and convenient use.

The device may have a transparent plastic top for clear observation offood while cooking, a low risk of breakage or cuts from broken pieces,and resistance to dents, chips, scratches or sharp edges found onpainted metal parts.

IN THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cooking device for use in the methodof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 2--2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the upper portion of the apparatus for usein the present invention showing the electric motor, resistance heatingelement and the blower blade taken along the lines 3--3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the lines 4--4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view of the apparatus showing the topportion pivoted upwardly;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the heater unit as seen from beneath theunit;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate cooking device;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the cooking device of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top view;

FIG. 10 is a rear view;

FIG. 11 is a bottom view;

FIG. 12 is a right side view;

FIG. 13 is left side view;

FIG. 14 is an exploded view of the power portion of the cooking device;

FIG. 15 is a cut view of the cooking device taken along the center linerunning from front to rear;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged exploded view of the heater coil of the cookingdevice;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional view of the leg portion of the device;and

FIG. 18 is an enlarged bottom view of a leg portion of the device.

FIG. 19 shows the hold down rack.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD OF THE INVENTION

The method of the present invention includes placing the food product ina location in a self-contained countertop oven where the air current cansubstantially surround the cooking surfaces of the food piece. An aircurrent is then applied to the food piece at a velocity of at least 1000linear feet per minute desirably between 1200 and 2500 linear feet perminute. The velocity of the air stream may be as high as 4000 feet perminute or higher with certain food pieces so long as the food piece isnot displaced. The temperature of the air is at least 125° F. desirablybetween 180° and 450° F.

The air current desirably is in the form of a cyclone shape whichrepeatedly recirculates within the cooking chamber in order to achieve avelocity of at least 1000 linear feet per minute. The cyclone helix mayhave both a straight vertical axis and a circular horizontal axis. Theair stream generally transverses the food piece in a path parallel tothe upper and lower surfaces of the food piece thus providing intimatecontact between the hot air stream and the food piece. This minimizesany air layer barrier adjacent to the surface of the food piece. Thedirection of the air current may be periodically reversed during thecooking cycle. The cyclone air flow may be used to rotate the tray thusproviding an interesting display of the food and improved visibility. Alow friction interface may be provided between the tray and the base ofthe cooker.

One cooking device 10 for carrying out the method of the presentinvention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, includes a base member11, a top 12 and a powered heater unit 13. The heater unit 13 is inlocked engagement with top 12 as hereinafter described. The cookingdevice 10 further includes a lower frame bracket 14 and an upper framebracket 15. Brackets 14 and 15 may be hingedly interconnected such as byremovable pin 17. The brackets 14 and 15 may be integrally secured tothe base 11 and top 12 respectively, or alternatively, they may beremovably secured such as by snap mechanism 18.

The base 11 may be suitably formed of a polymeric material and includesa circumferential wall 21, an integral lower wall 22 and a plurality offeet 23. The feet 23 serve to elevate the lower wall 22 upwardly from asupport surface such as a countertop. The lower unit 11 may include athickened upper rim 24 defining a slot 26 into which the top 12 may belodged. The base 11 may include a handle 27. The circumferential wall 21has a plurality of small projections 28 which serve to support the rack29 on which the food pieces may be disposed. The rack 29 may be of aconventional wire construction as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The top 12 of the cooking unit 10 likewise includes a circumferentialwall 31 and an upper wall 32. The wall 32 may be integral with wall 31.Top 12 may be produced by injection molding, or alternatively, vacuummolding. The upper wall 32 has an opening 32' defined therein forreceipt of the powered heating unit 13. The opening 32' may be definedby rim 33 including a thickened vertical wall 35 and aninwardly-extending wall 36.

The structure of the power heater unit 13 is illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3and 6. The power unit 13 includes a motor portion 41, a heater 42 and ablower blade 43. The motor portion 41 includes an inner housing 44 whichmay be of sheet metal, an outer housing 46 which may be injection moldedplastic and a motor 47, including an armature 48 and a rotatably drivenshaft 49 which extends outwardly from each side of the armature. Therotational direction of the shaft may be reversed by reversing thefields of the motor. The motor 47 is mounted to the inner housing 44such as by a plurality of bosses 51 and screws 52. The screws 52 extendthrough suitable openings 53 in the upper wall 56 and anoutwardly-extending flange 57. The housing 44 is closed on the bottomside by plate 58. The plate 58 corresponds in dimension to the outeredge of the flange 57 such that the housing 44 rests on the rim 33 oftop 12. The housing 44 has an opening 59 for receipt of air for purposesof cooling the armature 48 as hereinafter described.

A plurality of snap mechanism 61 are attached by screws 62 at variouslocations around the periphery of the housing 44. The snap mechanism 61may be of spring sheet metal and serves to secure the motor portion 41to the top 12. Alternatively, a twist lock type of securement may beused to attach the power unit 13 to the top 12.

The housing 46 has a peripheral wall 69 and an integral upper wall 71. Ahandle 72 may be molded as part of wall 69. The lower portion 73 of wall69 may be flared radially outwardly and includes a plurality of openings64 through which air may exit. The upper frame bracket 15 may beintegral with wall 69. The housing 46 may be secured to housing 44 suchas by flange 50 and screw 50a.

The heater 42 is an open coil, resistance wire type, and isthermostatically regulated to maintain cooking temperatures ranging from180° to 450° F. The heater 42 as shown in FIG. 6 may include an upperplate 76, a lower plate 77 and a resistance coil 78. The plates 76 and77 are of a material that does not conduct electrical current. The coil78 is sandwiched between plates 76 and 77 and thus electricallyinsulated from the remainder of the cooking device. The lower plate 77has a plurality of open zones 75 defined therein through which theheated air may move. The plates 76 and 77 may be secured together byrivets 81. Heater 42 (FIGS. 3 and 6) may be secured to plate 58 byscrews 82. The heater 42 is electrically connected to a source of powerthrough wires 83, switch 68 and cord 67.

The open heater coil 78 is used in order to achieve the lowest possiblesurface watt density. With adequate air flow, such an element is capableof transferring maximum heat to the air stream via conduction, whileoperating in the "black" heat range. In order for other types of heatingelements, such as tubular types, to give off the same wattage given thesame space and air flow, the heater would glow. Such a high surface wattdensity would result in overheating of the motor blower, overheating ofthe food being cooked, and overheating of the plastic parts through anexcessive radiation of heat. In addition, such an element would retaintoo much heat when the unit is shut off, causing additionalovertemperature problems. It is to be noted that the air current flowfrom blower blade 43 changes direction by about 180°. Thus, anyparticulate material is thrown out of the air current before the airpasses over the heater coil 4. Any smoke, however, is recirculated overthe coil and thus burned up or consumed. This is of course beneficial.

The heater assembly may also incorporate an overtemperature devicecapable of shutting off power to the heater should the thermostat fail.

The power unit 13 includes an upper blade 63 which is mounted on shaft49 of motor 47. The blade 63 draws fresh air through the upper portionof bracket 15 as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 2 and 3. The blade 63moves this cool fresh air upwardly around the motor 41 to cool themotor, up through openings 45 in housing 44 and downwardly and outwardlythrough the ports 64. The blower blade 43, which is mounted on theopposite end of shaft 49, moves the air currents within the heatedchamber. The blade 43 (FIG. 6) has an open central portion whichcorresponds with the open central portion 75 of the heater 42.

The blade 43 (FIG. 3) creates two air circulations. The first aircirculation is throughout the heated chamber. The second air circulationpasses a small portion of air over the heated coils in the heater 42 asillustrated in FIG. 3. In other words, the small air current exitsradially outwardly from the blade 43, reverses direction 180° to bedrawn in over the coil 78, then radially inwardly to the center of theheater 42, then downwardly into the center zone of the blade 43. Aprotective grid 66 may be provided over the blade 43. This directionreversal assures that no particulate material remains in the air streamthat contacts the coil 78.

Electrical current is fed into the device 10 by way of electric cord 67.The cord 67 may include a conventional plug for insertion into a wallsocket. The electrical current passes through switch mechanism 68mounted in the upper portion 15. The switch 68 includes a sensingmechanism to provide shutdown of the unit in the case of overheating inthe heating chamber and/or motor housing 41. The switch mechanism 68 mayalso include sensing mechanism to shut down the unit if the top portion12 is pivoted upwardly with the throw portion of the switch 68 in the"on" position.

OPERATION

Although the operation of this equipment is readily apparent from theaforedescription, it will be further described in order to provide amore complete understanding of the method of the present invention. Thecooking device may be accessed by pivoting the top portion 12 upwardlyas illustrated in FIG. 5. Food pieces such as potatoes, bakery goods,pizzas and the like may be placed on the rack 29. The top portion 12 isthen pivoted downwardly to the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.The switch 68 is then activated turning the heating element 42 and themotor 47 on. With the blade 43 rotating, air is moved within the chamberformed by the lower unit portion 11 and the upper portion 12. Air iscirculated over the resistance coil thereby providing heat to the airstream and in turn to the chamber. The temperature will typically be atleast 125° F. in the chamber. The temperature will preferably be in therange of 180°-450° F. The air velocity in the heated chamber willtypically be over 1,000 linear feet per minute. The air velocity at thepoint where the air stream contacts the food pieces is between 1000 and4000 linear feet per minute. If desired, a central wall 69A may bemounted in the heated chamber to provide a change in the air flowpattern. In this case, one has two cyclone configurations. Unlike mostconventional cooking devices, the blower is placed in the top center ofthe cooking chamber. The blower wheel is mounted in such a way as toproject the air stream into the uppermost portion of the cookingchamber. The upper surface of the air stream being at the same level orslightly lower than the upper wall of the chamber. In this position, theair thrown off the wheel travels horizontally in parallel, with thelower surface of the upper wall 32 of the chamber unit. The air streamis directed downward by the radius joining the upper wall and thevertical round side wall. The air then travels downwardly in a spiraluntil it is again deflected at the base of the outside wall by theradius joining the side wall with the lower wall of the enclosure. Theair is then simultaneously pushed and drawn by the blower across bothabove and beneath the cooking rack. The rack 29 has handles 29a and maybe inverted to raise or lower the cooking surface. As the air approachesthe center of the enclosure, it is drawn up into the open underside ofthe blower blade 43, where it is then recirculated through the samepattern described above. A partial vacuum is drawn in the zone extendingdownwardly from the center of the blower blade.

The velocity of the air is not constant within the chamber, since theheated air converges as it moves to the center of the unit and is drawninto the blower. In the cooking device, the air cools as it contacts thefood, but simultaneously accelerates as it converges on the center ofthe chamber. This change in velocity compensates for the droppingtemperature by more effectively exchanging the heat remaining in theair. The result is very uniform cooking from the outer edge to thecenter of the cooking rack.

When cooking items that cover most of the cooking rack, such as a pizza,or that require a pan, such as cookies, air flow to the underside of therack is prevented from being drawn back into the blower wheel. Thetrapped air swirls rapidly, but cools off significantly, due toinadequate air exchange with the heated air mass above the rack. Tocompensate for the above, one or more "mixing vanes" 69A may be locateddiagonally under the cooking rack. This causes the air to form two ormore counter-rotating air masses that dramatically improve the airexchange under the rack. See FIGS. 1 and 2.

Because the present system is capable of developing very rapid air flowswith a minimum motor size and power input, it is desirable to equip thecooking device with an adjustable motor speed control. Some items, suchas cakes or pizzas with loose topping, should not be exposed to overlyhigh air speeds (e.g. should be about 1000 linear feet per minute). Whenpreparing such items, it is much preferred to reduce the air speed bylowering the motor speed. This results in a moderate extension ofcooking time, but still provides much more rapid cooking thanconventional ovens. Sensing mechanism may be provided to sense movementof the food materials and correspondingly reduce the air velocity to apoint immediately below that at which movement takes place. The opencoil heater 78 is positioned directly above the blower blade 43. Theblower is fully open at the bottom, but also partially open on its top.As a result, the blower draws most of its make-up air into its bottomside, but also draws air into its top. This causes a portion of the airthrown out from the circumference of the blower to reverse direction andbe drawn back through the heater perimeter, down through the open lowerplate of the heater assembly and into the semi-open top of the blowerwheel. This highly heated air is then mixed with the air being drawn infrom the bottom of the blower. This mixture is then thrown outhorizontally into the cooking chamber. This configuration provides thefollowing advantages: Most particles are unable to make the abrupt 180°change in direction made by the air drawn through the heater. The airtravelling through the heater assembly is virtually free ofcontamination, while most particles are thrown off to the sides andbottom of the cooking chamber, where they can easily be cleaned away. Asa result of the above, the heater does not accumulate food, oil orgrease, thereby eliminating the need to clean the heater. This alsoextends heater element life and prevents smoke or fire hazard.

Positioning the heater immediately above the blower saves substantialspace, and allows for the compact design of an easily-removed blowerassembly. When the assembly is removed, the entire cooking enclosure canthen be washed in a conventional household dishwasher. The compactnessallowed by the heater position leaves more visibility through the topwall of the transparent cooking enclosure, providing the user with amaximum view of the cooking operation. Due to the blower blades or wheelbeing located directly below the heater assembly, the blower wheelprovides additional mechanical protection to the heater while furtherreducing the risk of electrical shock to the user.

Cleaning of any food preparation appliance is always a primary concern.The cooking device is designed to be easily disassembled, allowing theentire two piece cooking enclosure to be emersed in water for soaking orwashing in a household dishwasher. The enclosure is molded of low-stickplastic capable of withstanding the maximum internal operatingtemperature of at least 400° F. The blower assembly contains allelectrical components and easily mounts in the top half of the cookingenclosure, snapping in place by way of metal clips or by screwing intoplace, much like the lid on a jar. The blower assembly is dimensioned tofit easily inside the cooking enclosure for storage, thereby saving onscarce kitchen storage space and reducing shipping and packagingexpense.

The upper assembly is hingedly mounted on a detachable support whichconnects to the underside of the cooking enclosure. The cookingenclosure is opened by lifting up on the handle section 72 of the unitand pivoting the entire assembly rearward until it stops in a verticalposition. When the assembly is tilted rearward, an internal switch shutsoff all power to the motor and heater, thereby eliminating any danger ofinjury due to contact with the moving blower.

Due to the extensive use of plastics and the need to keep assemblytemperatures comfortable to the touch, internal cooling of the assemblymay be necessary. The motor must also be kept within safe operatingtemperature limits.

To achieve the above objectives, the blower unit 63 has been designed todraw cool, room temperature air in from directly above the hinge area.Drawing air from that point avoids taking in hot air rising off of thecooking enclosure. This cool air is pulled through the rectangularsegment connecting the motor enclosure to the hinge. This "duct" mayalso house electronic components that are heat sensitive or requirecooling, such as triacs. From here, the air is drawn over the motor, upthrough a secondary blower wheel 63 directly above the motor and thenexhausted downwardly around the outside walls of a "cup" 44 whichsurrounds the motor 48. This exhaust air is finally forced through a gap74 separating the cooking enclosure and the bottom edge of the blowerassembly. Here the air serves a valuable function of cooling the cookingenclosure plastic at its most vulnerable point, close to the heaterassembly.

Any deformation of the blower mount area due to overtemperature troublemay render the cooking enclosure useless. Gussets may be molded into theblower mount area to act as stiffeners and cooling fins for the plastic.

When the blower is removed from the cooking enclosure, the user may theninstall optional attachments to convert the cooking device into asteamer, a corn popper or other application that would fit theconfiguration and features of the cooking enclosure.

ALTERNATE EMBODIMENT

A preferred cooking device 110 of the present invention is illustratedin FIGS. 7-18. Cooking device 110 includes a base enclosure member 111,an upper enclosure member 112 and an interconnecting member 113 forhingedly connecting member 111 with member 112. The device is thus aclamshell configuration with the upper enclosure being pivotableupwardly to provide access to the cooking chamber.

The lower enclosure member 111 (FIGS. 7 and 15) includes acircumferential wall 121 which is integral with lower wall 122. Feet 123support the lower wall 122 spaced upwardly from the surface on which thecooking device 110 is supported. The feet 123 may be of any desiredshape. Preferably the shape of feet 123 is such as to avoid accumulationof heat. One such preferred shape is illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 18,namely, "C"-shaped. The lower member 111 including walls 122 and 124 andfeet 123 may be suitably made of a polymeric material such as byinjection molding. The polymeric material may be opaque and decorativelycolored. The thicknesses of such walls and feet are sufficient toprovide structural support for the device 110. The upper portion 121a ofwall 121 may define a recess 126 for purposes of receiving the upperenclosure member 112 as hereinafter described.

The upper enclosure member 112 (FIGS. 7 and 15) includes acircumferential wall 131 and an integral upper wall 132. The wall 132has an opening 132' that is defined by upstanding wall portion 132b. Theupper member 112 may be constructed of any suitable polymeric materialsuch as by injection molding. The polymeric materials used in members111 and 112 are suitable to withstand the operating temperatures of thecooker 110, e.g. temperatures of at least 400° F. The polymeric materialused in member 112 desirably is transparent thus enabling the user toobserve the food pieces during cooking. A typical polymeric material ispolyethersulphone.

The support member 113 (FIGS. 7, 12, 13 and 15) includes an uppersupport portion 114 and a lower support portion 115. The lower supportmember 115 has a horizontal leg 115a and a vertical leg 115b. The upperend of the vertical leg 115b has a concave portion 115c and a convexportion 115d.

The upper support member 114 is "L" shaped and has a horizontal leg 114aand a vertical leg 114b. The lower end of leg 114b has a convex portion114c and a concave portion 114d. A pivot shaft 115e runs between convexportion 115d and convex portion 114c. The convex portion 115d liescradled in concave portion 114d. The convex portion 114c lies cradled inconcave portion 115c. The upper support portion 114 pivots on shaft 115ewith respect to lower support portion 115.

The lower support portion 115 includes engagement mechanism 116 and 118which frictionally secures support member 113 to leg 123a of member 111.The engagement mechanism 116 and 118 may simply snap into engagementwith lugs 116a and 118a on the leg 123a.

The upper support portion 114 (FIGS. 14 and 15) includes a first housingportion 151, second housing portion 152 and rear housing portion 153.Housing portions 151-153 may be formed by injection molding. The housingportion 151 has a horizontal portion 151a and an integral verticalportion 151b.

The vertical portion 151a includes brackets 154a and 154b for securingthe motor 156 in place. The motor 156 may be held in place such as byscrews 157. An electrical cord 158 is electrically interconnected tomotor 156 through switch mechanism 159 and the safety lock-out mechanism111a, 112a and 113a. Suitable mechanism may be provided to convert ACcurrent to DC current if the motor 156 is a DC motor. A pulley 161 ismounted to the shaft 156a of motor 156. The housing portion 152 ofsupport 114 serves to cover the upper side of portion 151 and may besecured in place by screws (not shown). Housing portion 152 has aremovable panel 152a which carries switch mechanism 159 and switchmechanism 192. The housing portion 153 serves to enclose support 114 tothe rear and may include a grille structure 153a through which air maypass to cool motor 156.

The hinged connecting member 113 (FIGS. 7, 14 and 15) has aheater-blower unit 160 mounted therein. Unit 160 has a base plate 166which is secured to housing member 151 such as by screws 167. The baseplate 166 is constructed of an upper plate member 168 and a wire guard169.

Heater assembly 171 (FIGS. 14-16) is mounted to the base plate 168. Theheater assembly 171 includes plate 172 on which is mounted a resistanceheating coil 173. The heating coil 173 may be of a nicklecadmeummaterial. Suitable connecting wires 174a are provided to connect theheating coil 173 with the switch mechanism 159. Heater assembly 171 hasa mica heater ring 174 and a heater cover 176. The mica heater ring 174serves to electrically insulate coil 173 from plate 172. The heaterassembly 171, mica heater ring 174 and heater cover 176 may be suitablysecured to the base plate 168 such as by screws 177.

The base plate 168 has a bearing 178 through which the shaft 179 ofsecondary blower assembly 181 may extend. The secondary blower 181serves to cool the upper metal portions of the heater assembly such asbase plate 168 and bearing 178. A primary blower blade 182 is secured tothe lower end of shaft 179. A spun fiber glass blanket 193 is held in acup shaped member 194 thereby shielding the bearing 178 from heat.

A flat drive belt 186 interconnects pulley 161 of motor 156 with theprimary blower blade 182 by way of the pulley 187 on secondary blowerassembly 181. The belt 186 is a flat belt such as is used as a timingbelt.

Suitable controls 159 and 192 control respectively the electricalcurrent fed to heating coil 173 and speed of motor 156.

The cooker 110 may include a control circuit board 196 permitting thesetting of a single time-temperature-air velocity cycle or a complexseries of time-temperature-air velocity segments in a cycle. The cyclesmay be pre-established at the factory or may be created by thehomemaker. For example, the cycle may include a three step series forbaking a loaf of bread. The first step is at 170° F. for 45 minutes forrising of the dough, the second step is at 325° F. for baking the loafand the fourth step is at 450° F. for 5 minutes to crisp the crust ofthe loaf. The circuit board 196 may have a memory to store a pluralityof such complex series for later selective use. The series may includean activation time, e.g., turn on time. The cooking device 110 may havelights 204a-204d to provide improved visibility of the food productduring cooking. Such lights may direct light from all sides of the oven110.

The present cooking device 110 desirably includes safety mechanism 111Athat senses the presence of the lower or base member 111 and a mechanism112A which senses the presence of upper member 112. The mechanism 113Asenses the position of the upper member 112 to assure the device 110 isin a closed operating position before the blower 182 and coil 173 can beactivated.

The present cooking device 110 desirably includes an air vent scoop 198to remove a portion of the air stream thereby reducing the moisturecontent and in turn increasing the speed of cooking. The air scoop 198must extend downwardly from the lower surface of wall 132 exposing aneffective surface of between 0.1 and 0.3 square inches for each cubicfoot of cooking chamber. The preferred scoop has an effective scoopingsurface of 0.17 square inch per cubic foot of cooking chamber.

The cooking device 110 may include a base liner 201 which may beconstructed of sheet metal shaped like a shallow pan. The base liner 201is spaced from wall 122 and catches any dropping juices of fats from thefood during cooking and thereby facilitates cooking. The base liner 201also serves as a partial heat barrier and reduces the heat escapingdownwardly through wall 122. The base liner 201 may have a non-stickcoating such as Silverstone™. A wire support or rack 202 may be mountedin the lower member 111. The wire support 202 serves to support foodpieces 203 during cooking. The wire support 202 has handles 202a. Thewire support 202 may be inverted to raise or lower the cooking surface.In some instances a hold down rack 204 (FIGS. 15 and 19) may be providedto permit use of higher air velocities particularly with light weightfood pieces and yet avoid displacement of the food pieces. The hold downrack 204 may be of a wire construction similar to support 202. The holddown rack 204 may be supported on wire support 202 by legs 205, 206 and207. Each leg such as 205 may have three or more support notches such as205a, 205b and 205c.

OPERATION

While the operation of device 110 is apparent from the aforedescriptionit will be further described hereinafter in order to provide a morecomplete understanding of the invention. To operate the cooking device110, one connects the device 110 to household electrical current by wayof cord 158. The blower is then activated using control 159. Next thetemperature control 192 is adjusted to the appropriate operatingtemperatures. If one wishes to add some food pieces to the cookingdevice 110 one merely grasps the handle portion 114a pivoting the uppermember 112 upwardly on the shaft 13a. In so doing the switchingmechanism deactivates the heater coil 173 and the motor 156. When theupper member 112 is again pivoted downwardly the switching mechanismreactivates the motor 156 and the heater coil 173.

The blower is activated by providing electrical current to drive motor156 which then drives belt 186 carried on pulleys 161 and 187. Thepulley 187 drives secondary blade 181 and primary blower blade 182.Blade 181 draws in fresh air which cools motor 156 and other portions ofthe present cooking device such as base plate 168. The blower blade 182creates a primary air flow in a downwardly directed cyclone pattern tocook food pieces and a secondary flow which passes over the electricalcoil 173. The heated air is commingled then with the primary air flow.

While various specific details are described with respect to thisembodiment of the invention it is to be recognized that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the broader scope ofthe present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for rapidly cooking food comprisingmeans for defining a self-contained cooking chamber, a powered fan bladedisposed in said cooking chamber, means for rotating said blade which ispositioned to create an air stream having a velocity in excess of 1000linear feet per minute adjacent food in said cooking chamber and meansfor heating said air stream to a temperature of from 180° F. to 450° F.,said means for heating being disposed entirely above said fan blade. 2.The device of claim 1 wherein said fan blade and said cooking chamberare adapted to create an air stream having a cyclonic pattern.
 3. Thedevice of claim 2 wherein said fan blade and said cooking chamber areadapted to create an air stream having a double helix shape, one of saidhelices having a straight axis that is vertically oriented and a secondhelix having a circular axis that is horizontally oriented.
 4. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein said means for defining a cooking chambercomprises a lower member and an upper member, said lower membercomprising an upwardly opening bowl-shaped member and said upper membercomprising a downwardly opening bowl-shaped member.
 5. The device ofclaim 4 wherein said upper member comprises a curved transition wall, acircumferential wall and a top wall, said curved transition wall joiningsaid circumferential wall and said top wall, wherein said fan bladethrows an air stream in a radially oriented arc outwardly to strike saidcurved transition wall which causes said air stream to then movedownwardly in a spiral to said lower member thence inwardly to a zoneadjacent an axial center of said lower member and then upwardly to saidfan blade where said air stream is again powered by said blade toachieve said velocity.
 6. A device for rapidly cooking food comprisingmeans for defining a self-contained cooking chamber, means for heating afirst air stream to a temperature of at least 180° F., and a powered fanblade which is positioned and rotated to create a second air streamwhich is in thermal communication with said first air stream, and whichhas a velocity in excess of 1000 linear feet per minute adjacent foodpieces in said cooking chamber, said means for defining comprising alower member and an upper member, said lower member comprising anupwardly opening bowl-shaped member and said upper member comprising adownwardly opening bowl-shaped member, said upper member having acircumferential wall and an interconnected upper wall, saidcircumferential wall and said upper wall being interconnected by acurved transition wall, wherein said fan blade throws said second airstream in an essentially unrestricted radially oriented arc outwardly tostrike said curved transition wall which causes said second air streamto then move downwardly in a spiral to said lower member thence inwardlyto a zone adjacent an axial center of said lower member and thenupwardly to said fan blade where said second air stream is again poweredby said blade increasing said second air stream velocity to achieve avelocity of at least 1000 linear feet per minute adjacent food in saidcooking chamber.
 7. A counter top oven for cooking food comprising, alower upwardly facing bowl-shaped member, an upper downwardly facingmember having an inner surface, and a hinged interconnecting member,said interconnecting member interconnecting said upper member and saidlower member, while said interconnecting member allows said upper memberto rotate from a first position, where said upper member is disposed onsaid lower member, to a second position, where said upper member isseparated from said lower member, said oven including means for movingair at an elevated velocity in an air stream and means for heating saidair stream to a temperature of at least 180° F., said means for movingair being disposed in said upper member, said means for moving airfurther comprising a rotatable impeller blade projecting downwardly intosaid cooking chamber and positioned such that when said impeller bladeis rotated said air stream is thrown from said impeller blade in anessentially unrestricted radially oriented arc adjacent the innersurface of said upper member.
 8. The counter top oven of claim 7 whereinsaid upper member comprises a circumferential wall, an arcuate wall, andan upper wall, said arcuate wall joining said circumferential wall andsaid upper wall.
 9. The counter top oven of claim 7 wherein said uppermember defines an opening and wherein said means for moving and saidmeans for heating are mounted relative to said upper member such thatsaid means for moving extends through said opening in said upper member.10. The counter top oven of claim 7 wherein said upper member has anopening defined in an axial center thereof, and wherein said means formoving and said means for heating are removably mounted relative to saidupper member.
 11. The counter top oven of claim 7 wherein said means formoving is adapted to create a cyclonic air stream pattern in said oven.12. The counter top oven of claim 7 wherein said means for moving isadapted to create air stream velocities of at least 1000 linear feet perminute adjacent food in said oven.
 13. The counter top oven of claim 7wherein said oven is designed for storing said interconnecting memberbetween said lower member and said upper member.
 14. The counter topoven of claim 7 wherein said oven is designed to be disassembled forplacing said lower member and said upper member in a dishwasher.
 15. Thecounter top oven of claim 7 wherein said lower member and said uppermember are cooperatively a serving container.
 16. The counter top ovenof claim 7 wherein said upper member and said lower member are formedfrom plastic to avoid burning a user should a user touch at least one ofsaid members and wherein said oven is capable of heating to atemperature of 450° F.
 17. The counter top oven of claim 7 wherein saidoven includes a hold down rack which permits high air velocities withoutdisplacement of food pieces.
 18. The counter top oven of claim 7 whereinsaid interconnecting member further comprises an upper bracket and alower bracket, said upper and lower brackets cooperatively comprising aback surface, said oven being storable, while resting on said backsurface.
 19. The counter top oven of claim 11 wherein said air streamconverges adjacent a center of said cooking chamber, thereby increasingsaid air stream velocity at said center of said cooking chamber andthereby compensating for dropping air temperature as said air streamconverges adjacent said center of said cooking chamber.
 20. The countertop oven of claim 7 wherein said upper member has a plurality of lightsto illuminate food from a plurality of locations.
 21. A device forrapidly cooking food comprising means for defining a cooking chamber, apowered impeller blade for creating an air stream, and means for heatingsaid air stream, said blade being disposed in said chamber such thatsaid air stream has a velocity of at least 1000 linear feet per minuteand a temperature of at least about 180° F. adjacent food in saidcooking chamber, said means for defining comprising a lower member andan upper member, said lower member comprising an upwardly openingbowl-shaped member and said upper member comprising a downwardly openingbowl-shaped member, said upper member having a circumferential wall, acurved transition wall and an upper wall, said curved transition walljoining said circumferential wall and said upper wall, wherein said fanthrows an air stream in an essentially unrestricted radially orientedarc outwardly adjacent said upper wall, said curved transition wallcausing said air stream to then move downwardly in a spiral to saidlower member thence inwardly to a zone adjacent an axial center of saidlower member and then upwardly to said impeller blade where said airstream is again powered by said blade increasing said air streamvelocity to achieve said velocity of at least 1000 linear feet perminute adjacent food in said cooking chamber, said device includingmeans for releasably contacting said upper member and said lower membercomprising a hinged clamp-like member for moving said upper member intocontact with said lower member and permitting said upper member to behingedly pivoted upwardly to provide access to said cooking chamber whensaid device is in an inoperative mode.
 22. A counter top oven comprisinga lower upwardly facing bowl-shaped enclosure member, an upperdownwardly facing enclosure member and a hinged interconnecting member,said members defining a cooking chamber and said members cooperating toform a clamshell structure, said oven including means for moving air atan elevated velocity and means for heating said air, said means forheating including a resistance heater coil and said means for movingincluding a blower blade, said blade producing a first air stream insidethe cooking chamber and producing a second air stream outside thecooking chamber which reverses direction 180° immediately prior topassing over said heater coil.
 23. A counter top oven comprising a lowerupwardly facing bowl-shaped enclosure member, an upper downwardly facingenclosure member and a hinged interconnecting member hingedly joiningsaid lower member and said upper member such that said members cooperateto form a clamshell structure, a heater-blower unit disposed in saidupper member, and a cool zone adjacent a periphery of said upperenclosure member, said heater-blower unit further comprising a motordisposed within said cool zone, an impeller blade disposed inside saidupper enclosure upper member, and a drive belt providing communicationbetween said motor and said impeller.
 24. The counter top oven of claim23 wherein said drive belt is a flat belt.
 25. The counter top oven ofclaim 24 wherein said interconnecting member has intake ports, exhaustports and internal passageways therethrough, wherein said impeller drawsfresh air in said intake ports, partially through said internalpassageways, over said motor for cooling said motor, further throughsaid internal passageways out said exhaust ports and initially over anupper surface of said upper enclosure member to cool said upperenclosure member thereby avoiding deformation of said upper enclosuremember.
 26. A counter top oven comprising a lower upwardly facingbowl-shaped enclosure member, an upper downwardly facing enclosuremember and a hinged interconnecting member, said members cooperating toform a clamshell structure, said oven including means for moving air atan elevated velocity between said enclosure members and means forheating said air, said oven further including a cooking rack supportedin said lower member in an elevated position, an air mixing vane whichacts on said air to create counter rotating air masses to improve airexchange between air flowing above said cooking rack and air flowingbelow said cooking rack.
 27. A device for rapidly cooking food piecescomprising means for defining a self contained cooking chamber, apowered fan blade to create an air stream inside said cooking chamber,and means for heating said air stream, said air stream having a velocityof at least 1000 linear feet per minute and a temperature of at leastabout 180° F. where said air stream flows adjacent food pieces in saidcooking chamber, said cooking chamber being defined by a lower memberand an upper member, said lower member comprising an upwardly openingbowl-shaped member and said upper member comprising a downwardly openingbowl-shaped member, said upper member having a circumferential wall andan interconnected upper wall, said circumferential wall and said upperwall being interconnected by a curved transition wall, wherein said fanblade throws said air stream in a radially oriented arc outwardly tostrike said curved transition wall which causes said air stream to thenmove downwardly in a spiral to said lower member thence inwardly to azone adjacent an axial center of said lower member and then upwardly tosaid fan blade where said air stream is again powered by said bladeincreasing said air stream velocity to achieve a velocity of at least1000 linear feet per minute in said cooking chamber;said air streamcomprising a combination air stream including a first air stream flowpath and a second air stream flow path, and wherein said fan bladeincludes means for drawing a portion of air out of said first air streamflow path to create said second air stream flow path, said means fordrawing passing said second portion of air over said means for heatingand returning said portion of air from said second air stream to saidfirst air stream thereby recirculating said portion of air past saidmeans for heating to heat said first air stream; and said device furtherincluding means for releasably contacting said upper member and saidlower member, said means for releasably contacting comprising a hingedmember for allowing said upper member to contact said lower member andpermitting said upper member to be hingedly pivoted upwardly to provideaccess to said cooking chamber when said device is in an inoperativemode.
 28. The device of claim 27 wherein said air stream has a maximumvelocity of at least 4000 linear feet per minute adjacent food in saidcooking chamber.
 29. The device of claim 27 wherein said device includessafety switching means for making said device inoperative when saidupper member is hingedly moved upwardly.
 30. An oven comprising:acooking chamber, said cooking chamber further comprising an uppermember, said upper member further comprising an upper circumferentialwall an upper arcuate wall and a top wall having a top opening throughthe center thereof, said upper arcuate wall joining said uppercircumferential wall and said top wall such that said upper member is ofan inverted dish shape, said cooking chamber further comprising a lowermember, said lower member further comprising a lower circumferentialwall, a lower arcuate wall, and a bottom wall, said lower arcuate walljoining said circumferential wall and said bottom wall such that saidlower member is of a dish shape, and said cooking chamber comprising aninterconnecting member, said interconnecting member further comprisingan upper interconnecting portion and a lower interconnecting portion,said upper interconnecting member being attached relative to said uppermember, said upper interconnecting member being joined relative to saidlower interconnecting member, and said lower member being joinedrelative to said lower member; means for creating an air stream, saidmeans being at least partially disposed below said opening in said topwall; a motor communicating with said means for creating, said motorbeing disposed inside said upper interconnecting member; and air intakemeans for drawing air into said upper interconnecting member, aroundsaid motor and out exhaust ports in said interconnecting member.
 31. Anoven comprising:means for heating air to a temperature of at least 180°F.; means for creating an air stream in thermal communication with saidmeans for heating; an upper member comprising a generally frustoconicalwall, a first transition wall, and a first generally circumferentialwall, wherein said frustoconical wall is joined to said first transitionwall which is joined to said first circumferential wall, wherein saidfrustoconical wall guides said air stream in a uniform and radiallyoutward pattern adjacent said frustoconical wall until said air streamconverges on said first transition wall, wherein said first transitionwall guides said air stream out of said radial outward pattern and intoa first uniform cyclonic pattern, and wherein said first circumferentialwall guides said air stream in said first uniform cyclonic patternadjacent said first circumferential wall while said air stream spiralsaway from said frustoconical wall; and a lower member comprising asecond generally circumferential wall, a second transition wall, and agenerally planar wall, wherein said second circumferential wall isjoined to said second transition wall which is joined to said planarwall, wherein said second circumferential wall is disposed adjacent saidfirst circumferential wall such that said air stream continues flowingin said first uniform cyclonic pattern spiraling away from saidfrustoconical wall until said air stream converges on said secondtransition wall, wherein said second transition wall guides said airstream out of said first cyclonic pattern and into a uniform andradially inward pattern, and wherein said planar wall guides said airstream in said radially inward pattern until said air stream convergeson itself and is forced into a second cyclonic pattern extending towardssaid frustoconical wall where said stream is then again guided radiallyoutward.
 32. The oven of claim 31 wherein said first cyclonic patternhas turns which are generally equa-radial to an axis passing throughsaid first and said second planar members at axial centers thereof. 33.The oven of claim 31 wherein said means for creating is positionedadjacent said frustoconical wall.
 34. The oven of claim 31 furthercomprising:a protective grid, wherein said protective grid isstreamlined so as to not impede the uniformity of the air stream, andwherein said grid impedes access to said means for creating an airstream.
 35. The device of claim 1 wherein said cooking chamber comprisesa top wall, a bottom wall, and a circumferential wall, wherein said fanblade throws an air stream in a radially oriented arc outwardly alongsaid top wall, then downwardly along said circumferential wall, and thenradially inward along said lower wall, and finally upwardly along anaxial center of the cooking chamber, and wherein said upward movement ofthe air stream along the axial center creates a vacuum along the axialcenter of the cooking chamber.
 36. The device of claim 1 wherein saidfan blade draws air upwardly in a center region of said cooking chamber,so as to create a vacuum in said center region.
 37. A rapid cookingdevice, comprising an upper member and a lower member which togetherdefine a cooking chamber, said upper member having an opening therein, arack disposed within said cooking chamber for supporting food to becooked, a blower mounted in the opening in said upper member, saidblower comprising a blower wheel located within said cooking chamber,heating means mounted in the opening of said upper member for heatingthe air within said cooking chamber to a temperature of at least 180°F., and a hinged interconnecting member, said interconnecting memberholding said upper member and said lower member together duringoperation and permitting said upper member to be hingedly pivotedupwardly to provide access to the interior of said cooking chamber whenthe blower is not in operation.
 38. The rapid cooking device of claim 37further comprising a safety switching mechanism which renders the blowerinoperative when said upper member is pivoted upward.
 39. The rapidcooking device of claim 37 wherein said upper member comprises acircumferential wall, a generally-planar top wall, and an arcuate wallconnecting together the circumferential wall and the top wall.
 40. Therapid cooking device of claim 37 wherein said interconnecting membercomprises a substantially L-shaped lower frame bracket attached to thelower member, a substantially L-shaped upper frame bracket attached tothe upper member, said upper and lower frame brackets being pivotablewith respect to each other.
 41. The rapid cooking device of claim 40wherein said interconnecting member further comprises a pin forpivotally connecting together said upper and lower frame brackets. 42.The rapid cooking device of claim 37, wherein said upper and lowermembers are made of plastic.
 43. The rapid cooking device of claim 37,wherein said blower comprising a second fan blade which draws fresh airover the motor so as to cool the motor and expels said fresh air over anupper surface of the upper member so as to cool the upper member. 44.The rapid cooking device of claim 37, wherein said lower membercomprises an upwardly opening bowl-shaped member and said upper membercomprises a downwardly opening bowl-shaped member.
 45. The rapid cookingdevice of claim 37 wherein said interconnecting member may be separatedfrom said upper and lower members for cleaning or storage.
 46. Thedevice of claim 4, wherein the means for defining a cooking chamberfurther comprises an air vent scoop for removing a portion of the airstream from within the cooking chamber.
 47. The device of claim 46,wherein the upper member comprises a top wall and a circumferential sidewall, and wherein the air vent scoop extends downwardly from the topwall of the upper member.
 48. The device of claim 46, wherein thecooking chamber has a volume, and wherein the air vent scoop exposes aneffective surface of area of between 0.1 and 0.3 square inches for eachcubic foot of volume of the cooking chamber.
 49. The device of claim 46,wherein the air vent scoop exposes an effective surface of area ofapproximately 0.17 square inches for each cubic foot of volume of thecooking chamber.
 50. The device of claim 2, wherein the air stream has adirection and wherein a direction of rotation of said powered fan blademay be reversed to reverse the direction of the air stream.
 51. Acounter top oven comprising:an upper member and a lower member whichtogether define a cooking chamber, said cooking chamber having acircular horizontal cross-section and an ovular vertical cross-section,said upper member having a central opening located therein; a rackdisposed within said cooking chamber for supporting food to be cooked; ablower, said blower comprising a blower wheel located within saidcooking chamber, said blower being adapted to move a heated air currentin the cooking chamber at rapid velocity; and heating means for heatingthe air within said cooking chamber, said heating means being completelydisposed above said blower wheel and comprising a plate with an openingtherein and a heater mounted above said plate which heats the aircurrent to a temperature in the range of 150 to 450 degrees F.
 52. Theoven of claim 51, said blower further comprising a motor disposedoutside of said cooking chamber, said motor being connected to saidblower wheel.
 53. The oven of claim 51, wherein said heater comprises anopen wire resistance heater.
 54. The oven of claim 52, furthercomprising means located outside said cooking chamber for creating asecondary air flow to cool said motor and an upper wall of said uppermember.
 55. The oven of claim 54, wherein said means for creating asecondary air flow comprises an air duct for carrying air from a zone atthe periphery of the cooking chamber to a zone adjacent the upper end ofsaid motor, a jacket surrounding said motor for carrying air from saidduct along said motor thereby cooling said motor, and means fordirecting the air from said jacket outwardly along the upper wall ofsaid upper member.
 56. The oven of claim 51, wherein said blower wheelis positioned and rotated so as to create an air stream in excess of1000 feet per minute adjacent food in said cooking chamber.
 57. The ovenof claim 51, wherein said blower wheel is positioned and rotated so asto create an air stream in excess of 2600 feet per minute adjacent foodin said cooking chamber.
 58. The oven of claim 52, further comprising ahousing which contains said motor, said housing being attached to saidupper member by quick release screw mechanisms.
 59. The oven of claim58, further comprising a switch mechanism which places said blower in anoperable mode when said housing is attached to the upper member andplaces said blower in an inoperable mode when said housing is notattached to said upper member.
 60. The oven as claimed in claim 51,wherein said blower wheel creates first and second air currents, saidfirst air current flowing from said blower wheel to said resistance coiland then downwardly through the opening in said plate, said second aircurrent flowing from said blower wheel into said cooking chamber,wherein said blower wheel mixes said first and second air currents. 61.The oven of claim 51 wherein said upper member has a circumferentialwall, a top wall, and a first curved transition wall which connects saidcircumferential wall and said top wall, wherein said lower member has acircumferential wall, a bottom wall, and a second curved transition wallwhich connects said circumferential wall and said bottom wall, andwherein said blower wheel throws an air stream in a radially orientedarc outwardly to strike said first curved transition wall which causessaid air stream to spiral downwardly to strike said second curvedtransition wall, causing the air stream to flow to a zone adjacent theaxial center of the cooking chamber and then upwardly to said blowerwheel.
 62. The oven of claim 51, wherein said plate is circular in shapeand the opening is in the center thereof.
 63. The oven of claim 51,wherein the heater is an open wire resistance heater mounted on saidplate.